Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Government Brazil declared find the spread corona virus (Covid-19) a new type in the city of Manaus, Amazon.
Local health experts then fear that the infection cases will increase because the new type of virus is thought to spread more quickly.
Reported Reuters, Monday (25/1), from a study led by a Brazilian immunity expert, Prof. Ester Sabino, found that 42 percent of cases of infection in Manaus are due to a new type of virus.
Sabino got this conclusion from research using the Covid-19 test genome data collected in Manaus. According to him, the virus mutations that occurred were similar to those found in England and South Africa.
“That is the data that emerged during December 2020. We are currently working on finalizing the results of the study in January and it does appear that there are additional cases,” said Sabino who teaches at the University of Sao Paulo.
The new type of corona virus found in Brazil is named P.1. The virus is suspected to be a mutation of the N501Y and E484K viruses.
The P.1 virus was found out of 13 of the 31 swab test results from residents who tested positive for the corona. The results of the examination were carried out between 15 and 23 December 2020 in Manaus.
However, the research team led by Sabino still did not get samples of the results of the tests between March and November 2020, so they cannot confirm the number of spreads of the new type of virus.
As a result of the discovery of the new strain of virus, health experts have proposed that the Brazilian Civil Aviation Administration closely monitor the arrival and departure of passengers on flights from Manaus.
According to Sabino, there is a tendency for the mutated virus to spread more quickly than the current strain, although it has not been fully proven. However, the same thing happened by comparing the old strains and the mutations.
Amazon is one of the states that has been severely affected by the Covid-19 infection. A number of hospitals to local community health centers are full due to accommodating Covid-19 patients.
Local health workers and doctors are also struggling to deal with the outbreak, plus their remote location and surrounded by dense tropical forests make it difficult to get in and out of the area.
As a result, many residents in rural Amazon areas who are infected with Covid-19 are not treated, and end up dying at home or even while being treated.
The city government of Manaus also refused to enforce the lockdown (lockdown), which is considered to be one of the factors that causes the infection rate in the region to be quite high.
(Reuters/ayp)
– .
